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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26153122">a shadow in the mirror</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RK96000/pseuds/RK96000'>RK96000</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, drabble fics!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:15:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,434</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26153122</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RK96000/pseuds/RK96000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Phantom Thieves bond over shared trauma, over echoes of themselves they see in each other, as they ache from the intensity of their sympathy and compassion (which adults had never bothered to give) and help each other heal.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akechi Goro &amp; Sakura Futaba, Kitagawa Yusuke &amp; Niijima Makoto, Okumura Haru &amp; Takamaki Ann</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. something in her eyes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello! This is a pre-written collection of four drabbles that will be updated daily until completed.<br/>Content warnings will be posted at the end of this chapter for the chapters that require them! Additionally, dialogue isn't indicated by quotation marks.<br/></p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ann sees Haru’s fiancé holding her wrist and she </span>
  <em>
    <span>recognizes</span>
  </em>
  <span> that grip, sees that it’s too tight and sees herself in how Haru hunches into herself- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Like if she made herself smaller, he would leave her alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> She burns with fury and shoves him to the ground and tells him to never </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever</span>
  </em>
  <span> fucking touch her friend ever again and maybe there’s something in her eyes that scares him but he just scrambles away in terror like Kamoshida once did and runs off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he’s gone, she feels empty, drained and turns to smile at Haru and gently, slowly lays a hand on her shoulder (making sure Haru could move away if she didn’t want her to) and then Haru just collapses into her with sobs and Ann can’t help but feel tears prick her eyes too, the rest of the Phantom Thieves the furthest thing from her mind as she embraces her friend, crying and breaking and falling apart from a man’s cruel touch, from a man who heard </span>
  <em>
    <span>no </span>
  </em>
  <span>and </span>
  <em>
    <span>please </span>
  </em>
  <span>but pretended not to, from a man who went too far, and tells her, quietly, “I know. I know too.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>"Chapter 1: something in her eyes" and "Chapter 2: echoes" is about Haru's creepy fiance who shows signs of being abusive and Ann's past trauma from Kamoshida trying to manipulate her into a relationship and sex.<br/>"Chapter 4: relief (and hatred)" is about Futaba and Akechi's past abuse by a family member responsible for them and how it has resulted in them having hallucinations.</p><p>Quick disclaimer that I am an abuse survivor myself- I hope I do these characters and their trauma justice!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. echoes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It’s the Shido palace, Ann reminds herself, even as her breaths hitches, the swimsuit she’s in makes her feel painfully exposed-  he keeps rubbing his hands on Ann’s arm and she’s</span>
  <em>
    <span> better</span>
  </em>
  <span> than this, she doesn't flinch anymore when her male friends sling an arm around her or pat her shoulder and she can laugh freely and as loudly as she pleases without wondering if there are eyes on her- on her body, rather- but suddenly she’s back in Shujin with Kamoshida’s oily smile and there’s absolutely nothing she can do but stand petrified for a single terrifying moment-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Until Haru, </span>
  <em>
    <span>kind </span>
  </em>
  <span>Haru who helped Ann study and planned a sleepover whenever Ann’s apartment was too quiet, lays eyes of steel upon the man who is feeling up her friend, and her hands tremble, but she slaps the man </span>
  <em>
    <span>hard</span>
  </em>
  <span> and echoes the words Ann once said for her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He lets go in shock and finally, Ann can feel like herself again and now that she does, the terror is overwhelmed by the rage and she socks him in the face as hard as she can manage before he turns into a shadow- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And the best part is something Haru and Ann both clearly agree on as they share one last smile- Haru and Ann’s combined assaults turn out to have depleted half of his health.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. above and beyond</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Makoto goes above and beyond with everything- she always has to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s in a frantic attempt to prove she’s not useless, even long after her sister apologizes, the word echoing in her mind even as she reaches for the next textbook to study from. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She has to get top marks in her exams and she burns out but it doesn’t</span>
  <em>
    <span> matter</span>
  </em>
  <span>, all that matters is the numbers on top of the page, and she just keeps going at it, studying in the library until the student librarian kicks her out because of how dark it’s gotten and then studying on the train even as her eyes droop every few minutes and then once she gets home until she collapses at her desk while studying, wakes up in a rush and goes to school with bloodshot eyes and repeats and repeats, even as Haru grows more worried, as do all of her friends (she’s bothering them, bothering </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone </span>
  </em>
  <span>but she doesn’t know how to fix it, how to fix it herself)- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Until finally, Yusuke corners her when she’s trying to leave the library- he must’ve waited for hours, she realizes, and feels guiltier for it even if she couldn’t have known (she was already a useless student, a useless sister, she couldn’t be a useless friend or what use would she be) and he just gently takes the book away and she tries to get it back, she </span>
  <em>
    <span>does</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but he begins to speak quietly of burnout, of pushing yourself so far there’s nothing left of you, of thinking your only worth was in what you did, not who you were, but she’s so tired and what he’s saying feels so right, even if in a way that aches, that she falls asleep on the train on his shoulder and wakes up at her stop. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He leads her into her apartment and tucks her into bed and it’s only then she starts and with a startled, “FUCK-” that’s a little too loud, realizes Yusuke probably doesn’t have enough money to get home. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stay, she tells him, Yusuke pausing before the door as if he’d planned to walk the whole way home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If I stay, he says slowly, will you take care of yourself?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Makoto ignores the tears blurring her vision, tells him she thought she was useless, that she was only useful if she was studying or making up tactics for the Phantom Thieves or- she rambles on and on but Yusuke doesn’t tire, he hums every once in a while in agreement and finally, once she winds up out of steam, Yusuke tells her, you are not useless. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And maybe the words are simple but it’s the emotion, the utter belief behind his statement, that finally gets her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay, she says. Okay. Maybe I'm not useless, and settles back into bed and Yusuke settles onto the couch and she can’t help but think how lucky she is to have the friends she has.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. relief (and hatred)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Futaba stares at Akechi one day, when he slips up and flinches at a hallway when there’s no one else there, and when his eye twitches as he speaks, snarling at an empty space. </p><p>The other Phantom Thieves don’t notice but she does. </p><p>It makes <em> sense </em>they don’t notice- after all, none of them hallucinated either.</p><p>She recognizes that repressed flinch, the quiet relief in his eyes that it wasn’t real, the hatred that he even saw it. You see them too, Futaba says one day, and Akechi scoffs, saying he sees absolutely nothing except the <em> truth </em> and tries to plaster on his detective prince smile, the same smile he plasters on when his interviews play on TV, but he can’t help but glare at her as if daring her to say otherwise, daring her to say he was anything less than perfect. </p><p>You do, Futaba says, like a hypothesis confirmed. </p><p>Akechi is still smiling that hard, fake smile at her despite his eyes shooting daggers and she knows she has to say something first, so she does. </p><p>I see my mom, she says, quietly, twisting the folds of her jacket as if that interested her far more. I hear her voice sometimes. Not as bad as before. But echoes. </p><p>Akechi stares at her for a moment, he seems unbalanced and taken off guard and after a long moment where Futaba stares at her trembling hands, wondering if this was the best idea, Goro says in a low voice, I see him. The word <em> him </em>drips in hatred so foul she knows who it is immediately- the only kind of hatred she has like that is towards her uncle, a hatred so deep and personal it cuts at her to even think about, like a wound always festering and only just starting to heal from her newfound family.</p><p>Always walking away, Goro continues, cutting through her own thoughts. Never having the nerve to look me in the fucking eye. </p><p>Goro’s eyes are cold, burning with fury, but it doesn’t scare her for once, the anger doesn’t make her flinch or call for Akira to help or tell him to run far, <em> far </em>away before Goro kills him for real. It’s familiar and she’s only somewhat horrified to realize that she’s feeling sympathy for Akechi Goro. </p><p>I’m sorry, the detective says in a clipped tone when she doesn’t respond quickly enough, as if that will mask the hurt veiled in his voice, and maybe, it would work on anyone else but she <em> knows </em>Goro, knows him behind the mask, knows he sees echoes of his abuser even when he knew he was safe.</p><p>Wait, she says. Not a loud shout, not a quiet whisper, just wait.</p><p>Goro stares at her and then smiles the first real smile she’s seen from him since they met and he laughs, quiet with a little snort, nothing like the practiced and polished laugh she hears from the TV all the time. </p><p>Watch Featherman with me, she grins, and the enthusiasm in his eyes could certainly not be faked-</p><p>And suddenly, Goro doesn’t seem so bad after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As I've previously mentioned, I'm an abuse survivor so seeing myself in characters was really great- although, I do wish the aftermath of abuse (which I've primarily explored in this fic) was elaborated upon in the game.<br/>Thank you for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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